Flashcards Deluxe is an easy to use, yet powerful flashcard app which you can use to study just about anything you want. I use this app for my own Chinese studies, and am constantly improving it to make it better for myself and others. (Click here for screenshots.)

Spreadsheet : column 1 = question (side 1), column 2 = answer (side 2). Each row is a new card.
Please see the below link for information on importing more than 2 sides or pictures/sounds:Import Format.xlsx (Spreadsheet Samples and Documentation)

After creating your flashcard text, you can transfer into the app using this website:
Upload your text to this website:
1) Copy your flashcard text into memory (control-c or command-c)
2) Go to the Upload page (link at top-right of this page) and paste your text into the "Flashcard Text" box
3) Enter a "Deck Code", which is way to identify and find your cards from your device.
4) Click "Upload"
Download your flashcards from within the app:
5) At the top of the main screen, tap + (add)
6) Tap "Private Deck" and enter your "Deck Code" (the same one you used to upload above)
7) Tap "Download Cards"

You can always add/edit cards to any deck within the app, but if you want to start with a completely empty deck:
1) At the top of the main screen, tap + (add)
2) Tap "Empty Deck"
3) Enter a "Deck Name" and tap "Create Deck"
You now are viewing your list of flashcards, though you don't have any yet. To add your first card:
4) At the top of this "Cards" screen, tap + (add)
5) Tap the 1st empty row to start editing side 1, enter text. Tap Next, enter side 2, then Done.
6) Tap the top left button (Cards) to back up to the card list screen.

When using a text editor or spreadsheet, you can transfer flashcards into the app using:This website

These instructions are copied from the "1) in a text editor or a spreadsheet" section above:
Upload your text to this website:
1) Copy your flashcard text into memory (control-c or command-c)
2) Go to the Upload page (at OrangeOrApple.com) and paste your text into the "Flashcard Text" box
3) Enter a "Deck Code", which is way to identify and find your cards from your device.
4) Click "Upload"
Download your flashcards from within the app:
5) At the top of the main screen, tap + (add)
6) Tap "Private Deck" and enter your "Deck Code" (the same one you used to upload above)
7) Tap "Download Cards"

When using Google Drive, create a folder called "Flashcards Deluxe", create a spreadsheet in this folder, and add your flashcard text into the spreadsheet. See Import Format.xlsx on how to fill out the spreadsheet.

To add your new deck in the app, at the main Decks screen, tap +, Google Drive, enter your login info, and you should see the list of spreadsheets in your "Flashcards Deluxe" folder available for download.

If you have pictures or sound files, you can put them in a folder on Google Drive. If your spreadsheet is called "Spanish 1", create a collection at the same level called "Spanish 1 Media". Any picture/sound file names you specify in your text can now be found.

About Dropbox
Dropbox is a free service that allows you to store your files online. By installing their client on your PC/Mac, Dropbox will create a special folder on your local hard drive and keep this folder in-sync with their online data. So, instead of dealing with files though a web-browser, you use Windows Explorer or Finder (Mac).

Within Flashcards Deluxe app, tap +, Dropbox to login to Dropbox. A "Flashcards Deluxe" folder will be created inside either "/Dropbox/Apps/" or "/Dropbox/" directory, depending on which option you used to log in. Inside the "Flashcards Deluxe" folder, create an .xlsx or .txt file with your flashcard text. After saving, Dropbox will automatically sync this file to their servers. From within the app, you can add this new deck using the "Dropbox" option.

You can import both .xlsx and .txt files.
1) Save file in /Flashcards Deluxe/ folder in Dropbox.
2) In the app, tap +, Dropbox to download.

Using .xlsx files
If you create your flashcards using Excel, save as a .xlsx file and the app can read this directly. Some formatting, such as bold, italics and text color, will also get imported.

Using .txt files
After you’ve created your text (either in a word processor or spreadsheet), you can copy-paste this into a .txt file and save in the Flashcards Deluxe folder.

Special points when saving your text file:

1) If your text uses special characters (like for Greek or Asian languages), then you’ll need to save your text with either UTF8 or Unicode encoding. Both Notepad (PC) and TextEdit (Mac) have these options when saving.

2) When using a spreadsheet, copy-pasting into a text file will usually work fine, but the risk is that if you use new-lines or double-quotes in your text, it may not copy correctly. In this case, from the spreadsheet program, do a "Save As" and choose the "Unicode" text format option. (Unicode is tab-delimited, but also supports special characters.)

Adding pictures and sounds
Put your pictures and sound files in a folder on Dropbox. If your text file is "Spanish 1.txt", create a folder in the same directory called "Spanish 1 Media". (Remove ".txt" and add " Media") Any picture/sound file names you specify in your text or Excel file can now be found.

1) Save your flashcards as a .txt file. (If you use Excel, save as "Unicode Text" format.)
2) Connect your device to your computer with a USB cable and open iTunes
3) Click your device name along the left, then click "Apps" along the top
4) Scroll down to the "File Sharing" section and click "Flashcards"
5) Under "Flashcards Documents" click "Add..." and choose your text file
6) After the file is transferred, go into the app and tap "+" at the Decks screen. The deck should then be created.

Android:

1) Save your flashcards as a .txt file. (If you use Excel, save as "Unicode Text" format.)
2) Attach the device to your computer and find the following directory on your SD card:
\Android\data\com.orangeorapple.flashcards\files\
(You may need to instruct the device to mount as a disk drive when attaching to computer.)
3) Copy the .txt file to this "files" directory.
4) After the file is transferred, go into the app and tap "+" at the Decks screen. The deck should then be created.

Option 1 - Use "App Server" as temporary storage to quickly share among friends:
(Decks may be deleted after a few weeks.)

1) At the main screen, tap Edit, then the deck you want to export
2) Tap "Export / Share"
3) Tap "App Server"
4) Enter a "Deck Code". This allows you to find your flashcards. Use a code that nobody else will.
5) If you have pictures to export, turn "Export Media Files" ON.
6) Tap "Export"

Download from another device:
7) At the main screen, tap +, then "Private Deck"
8) Enter the same Deck Code you choose above
9) Tap "Download Cards"

Option 2 - Use "Shared Library" to permanently share decks online:
(Shared library decks can be public or private. A login account is required.)

Export to the Shared Library:
1) At the main screen, tap Edit, then the deck you want to export
2) Tap "Export / Share"
3) Tap "Shared Library"
4) Login if you haven't done so already
5) Set options as desired. See help icon for help.
6) Tap "Send to Library"

Download from another device:
7) At the main screen, tap +, then "Shared Library"
8) Tap "Search" to search by name or description, or optionally tap "Join Group" if deck is part of a group.
9) Once you've found the deck, tap "Download"

Below is one method of transferring decks across devices:
(These steps are the same as in the "How do I share flashcards with others?" section above.)

Export to the orangeorapple.com server:
1) At the main screen, tap Edit, then the deck you want to export
2) Tap "Export / Share"
3) Tap "App Server"
4) Enter a "Deck Code". This allows you to find your flashcards. Use a code that nobody else will.
5) If you have pictures to export, turn "Export Media Files" ON.
6) Tap "Export"

Download from another device:
7) At the main screen, tap +, then "Private Deck"
8) Enter the same Deck Code you choose above
9) Tap "Download Cards"

This website mainly exists so you can easily transfer your flashcards between your computer and your device. You will upload your flashcard data to this website, then download it from your device. You should consider this website as temporary storage for your data. As long as you keep a backup on your computer, re-transferring your text, pictures and sounds should be a very easy process if it becomes necessary.

For private decks, picture and sound files may be deleted from this server after 20 days, and your text may be deleted after 40 days of no updates on the server. If you add new content within the app, please backup occationally.

Note: If you use Excel with Dropbox, you can format in Excel as usual without the need for the below commands. The following Excel formatting is supported: bold, italics, underline, text color and super/subscript.

New line: to create a new/blank line in the flashcard text, enter a "|" (pipe character) or use the <br> tag.
(If you need this symbol in your text, use a similar Unicode character: ∣ )
Bold: <b>This will be Bold</b>
Italics: <i>This will be Italicized</i>
Underline: <u>This will be Underlined</u>
Text Color: <color red>This will be Red</color>
<color #0000FF>This will be Blue</color> (You can read about color names and codes here.)
Superscript: <sup>This will be Superscript</sup>
Subscript: <sub>This will be Subscript</sub>
Center: <center>This will be centered</center> (assuming the rest of the side is left justified)
Bullet points: Just copy this into your own text: • and use | (shift \) to create new lines.

Setting font size: While you can set font size for each side within the app, if you want more control for specific text, you can use <size> tags:
<size .5>This will be half size</size>
<size 2>This will be double size</size>
<size 40>This will be a 40 point font (greater than 5 is a specific size)</size>
Multiple spaces can be used together using: <sp>

To add pictures from your PC/Mac, you include the file name of the picture/sound in the flashcard text, then in a separate process, upload the pictures/sounds to this web site. For details, see the section "Adding Pictures and Sounds" in Import Format.xlsx.

If using Dropbox or Google Drive, see the corresponding section above under "Creating Your Own Decks".

To add pictures from your device's photo library, or record your own voice, go to the card detail/edit screen in the app.

If you have flashcards in another program or website, you can most likely transfer them over easily by exporting them to a tab delimited or CSV file. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact me and I'll try to help.
SuperMemo: This page provides a tool to convert SuperMemo's Q&A format to a tab delimated format.

The app contains a lot of in-app help. Look for a question mark (?) icon at the top for help related to the current screen you are viewing. The information on this website will generally augment the help found within the app.

At the main screen, tap on a deck description and you will be put into study mode. Cards are shown in "rounds", which is basically one pass through the deck. The idea to be aware of is that, depending on the "Card Order" option, each round might not consist of all cards in the full deck. In this case, the program has selected a set of cards that it had determined you currently need practice on. In standard quiz mode, every card needs to be answered before moving to the next card. There is a "browse mode" that will allow you to skip through the deck without keeping score.

The Card Order setting defines how cards in your deck are shown and is an important setting:

Ordered – each card is shown in order (default for new decks)
Random – cards are shuffled before each round
Short Term Goal – focus is given on cards you don't know as well.
Spaced Repetition – advanced learning method where cards are scheduled at timed intervals.

To change this setting, tap the gear icon at the top of the *study screen* (not main screen) then tap "Card Order". While the first two settings are simple, you can read more about Short Term Goal and Spaced Repetition here.

Cards in a deck can be divided into categories, which can provide a great way to break large amounts of cards into manageable study sets. You can assign categories when you create your card text by entering the category name in a "Category 1" column, as documented in Import Format.xlsx. You can also assign categories within the application.

To select which categories you want to study, enter the "Deck Options" page, and tap "Cards to Study".

If you make changes to your cards on your device, you'll probably want to backup your changes periodically. To do this, tap Edit at the main screen, tap your deck, then tap Export. Exporting to "App Server" will upload your flashcards back to this server. Next, go to the "Export" page on this website, which will allow you to download your flashcards from this server back to your own computer.

This app works best when you have a single master version, either on your device or on your computer. There is no mechanism to "merge" changes from both sides, so you'll need to handle this. Transfering flashcards between the app and your PC is fairly simple. If you make only few changes within the app, one approach is to "flag" these updated cards so you can later make the same change to your computer's master list.

To update an existing deck, within the app tap "Edit", the deck, then "Download". You can then either append new data or completely replace all cards. If you replace all cards, statistics will carried forward as long as the app can find a partial match between the old and new cards.

Copy/Move cards between decks: From the card listing screen, tap "Mode" to get started.

Zoom into a picture by touch and holding picture.

Loop a sound clip by touch and holding sound play button.

Double-tap sound play button to toggle Auto-Play on/off

View side 3 first by using the "Card Layout" setting.

You can specify many deck specific options in your upload text. To see how this is done, make the setting within the app and export/email the deck to yourself. You'll see special header lines for these settings.

When a card is shown that has too much text to fit on the screen, you will see a green down-arrow at the bottom. Touch and hold the text to enter text "zoom" mode so you can scroll up/down through the text. There is a setting which will allow you to scroll without going to zoom mode: see Global Options > Control and the help in that screen for more info.

One way to share decks with others is by sending it to our "Shared Library". Shared decks are a copy of your private deck at the time you upload it to the library. To share a deck, tap "Edit" at the main screen, tap the deck, then "Share". You will need to enter a "User Name", which gives you rights to update and remove decks which you've shared.

When exporting, if you include statistics you'll see an exported column which represents your statistical data for each card. This can be imported back into the app. Normally you don't need to concern yourself with the format, but if you'd like to manipulate it manually, see the Excel file Statistics Format.xls for details.